Muslim overreaction - act 2

A Buddhist man posts a picture on Facebook to which the Muslims take offense, and they go on a rampage burning many temples and homes. This enhances the image of Islam as moral, peace-loving and fair religion. It certainly encourages non-Muslims to welcome Muslims into their community. By example, it heaps shame on Christian persecutors who protest against the building of mosques. *EYE ROLL*

Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.... to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.

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How long do governments let this go on before they finally recognize the foolishness and immaturity represented by this kind of behavior? It amounts to a child's tantrum, blown ridiculously out of proportion ... and whether you like the practice or not, it's time that child was spanked!

Don, it could have been anything: a photo, a video, or a comment on a blog. If the people making all this noise about insults to their prophet had any idea of the volume of material aimed at criticism, mockery and lampoons of Mohammed, they would exhaust themselves from protest.

I still wonder how long it's going to be before at least some of them figure out that They Are Being PLAYED.

Overreaction and aggression towards anything which disrespect Islam and its prophet is common in Islamic society. Imams and mullahs encourage Muslims to be totally intolerant against any constructive or unconstructive criticism. It is a big competition between Muslims; expressing more overreaction and aggression would bring more recognition and admiration for a Muslim in the cult.

Sayed, since you're an ex-Muslim, having been raised in that religion whereas I was raised in Christianity, I have a question for you. And, before I ask, I want to make it abundantly clear that I do notcondone the violence in Bangladesh, Egypt, Libya, or anywhere else in the world sparked by phony religious outrage.

Now, having said that, here it is. I am of the opinion (and I could easily be wrong) that the Muslim world is more pissed off at America, and the West, as a result of a series of wars and threats of wars, than it is over cartoons and bad videos. For example, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Gee, I guess the US screwed up, but we'll still out troops there. Afghanistan, after the US invasion, had a crooked and phony election which keeps Hamid Karzai in power with the perception he is a US puppet. And, we can use those bases to have drones bomb the crap out of parts of Pakistan. Now, there is talk of bombing and possibly starting a war with Iran.

How much of this "outrage" in the Islamic world is really motivated by supposed religious insults, as opposed to a feeling of hatred for the Western powers who seem to use their military option against Muslim nations at will? Now, I realize there is no bright dividing line here, and a feeling of powerlessness from one realm (the political and military) can easily spill over into another (the religious).

Is there any merit to this, or am I completely wrong here? Just wondering what your thoughts are on this.

Pat, I agree with you especially as I read the history of that part of the world from WW II on. Greed, domination, control seems to be the influence on these people and they are mad. The role religion plays in this is to assure them they have a bright future, even if/when they die. Oh great, we have to battle that myth even as the facts reveal why they hate USA so much. I wonder if anyone has the courage or the intelligence to name their problem and seek ways to resolve differences? Not if religion gets in the way.

Islam is an aggressive religion. Allah in Quran does not tolerate. He punishes the unbelievers with extreme cruelty. In Islam the key answer to majority of problems is the holy sword.

In my opinion, Muslims are crueler to themselves than western countries. Extremists dislike anybody who defies them especially if it comes from their fellow Muslim brother. For example in Afghanistan Taliban has tortured and killed far more Muslims than NATO soldiers and also in Iraq, thousands of Muslims have been killed by suicide bombers.

I would agree that there is strong hatred of west among Muslims but it does not necessarily mean westerners are the first target in their agenda. If an American soldier gets killed in Afghanistan, it will be on the headline of all media, on the other hand we hardly know about thousands of activists and apostates who are being tortured, imprisoned and killed in Islamic countries.

I love peace. I dislike war, guns and killing. However as a person who was raised and lived almost 30 years in the Middle East, I personally support the war in Afghanistan and Iraq because those countries have been liberated from Islamic tyrannical regimes such as Sadam and Taliban. Finally, I have to sadly say that there is no way to stop Syria and Iran apart from military intervention.

Thank you Sayed. I do appreciate your insight. As I stated, I myself was raised a Catholic in the US. Other than a brief trip to Morocco in my younger days, my only exposure to Islam has been through the Muslims I've met here in the America. Your perspective has given me food for thought. And, like you, I abhor war. But, I abhor oppression even more.

Beth KZ makes a point about how the Muslim street took the YouTube trailer to represent the voice of the US government.

Part of the problem is that they really do not comprehend such things as "freedom of the press". The incident with that nutjob publishing the "trailers" for his alleged film on Youtube was mis-reported in the various Arabic countries/news services as "US Television", which to THEM means the US GOVERNMENT television. They really do not understand that US television and other media is owned and nearly-completely operated by private companies and individuals. They don't have the means to do it, and only a few of the very wealthy (who are also intertwined with the government) have such means to own or operate a TV station. It was reported TO THEM as if this anti-Muslim film was produced and shown by the US government...